The transportation of temperature-sensitive products requires a detailed and highly coordinated strategy. Implementing the following best practices and standard operating procedures will allow shippers and carriers to boost efficiency, mitigate risk, and support ongoing food safety efforts.
Cold Chain Best Practices
Identify Risks and Vulnerabilities
The complexity of food safety regulatory regulations requires thorough risk assessments. Proper loading procedures including product packaging, cargo temperature, vehicle suitability, and airflow will ensure cargo quality and safety is maintained throughout its journey and mitigate risks for shippers. Put procedures in place to fix any issues that arise.
Confirm Product Temperature
Before accepting a shipment, carriers should confirm the product temperature. Use of a pulp (internal ) temperature probe like Cargo Data’s FliProbe can confirm the cargo has been properly precooled prior to shipment.
Perform Sanitary and Condition Inspection
Cleanliness prevents contamination of food products. According to the Food Safety Modernization Act ruling, shippers, loaders, carriers, and receivers involved in transporting human and animal food are required to document their sanitary methods.
Understand Regulatory Standards
The complexity of food safety regulations requires complete dedication and understanding of the laws in order to ensure the safety and quality of your products.
Review Documentation
As with any Federal regulation/rule, compliance with the rules is confirmed by documentation of how such compliance is achieved as well as transactional record-keeping. Cargo Data’s temperature monitoring instruments can provide essential documentation that the refrigerated trucks maintained proper temperatures.
Follow Loading Patterns
Loading and unloading products adds several complex factors to the cold chain process. After confirming correct product temperatures, inspect condition of equipment to verify it’s in proper working order. Shippers should oversee loading to ensure there’s sufficient space for air to pass between pallets, air chutes, walls, the ceiling, and floor.
Maintain Cold Chain Records
Cargo Data’s Lightning NFC and Lightning Real Time instruments are designed to provide all parties to a perishable foods transaction (shipper, carrier, Receiver) with a complete in-transit temperature record. Temperature charts can be viewed online where they remain archived for quality and safety audit and to support potential claims with carriers.
Contact Cargo Data For More Information
It’s critical to follow the cold chain best practices checklist to ensure food safety and quality. If you’d like to know more about our real time temperature monitoring and how it can protect your food product shipment, give us a call. We offer free consultations and can be reached at (800) 338-8134.